Where's the Protocol Office??

Coramoor · #1 03-09-2009, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I think the DVD set was a silly gift. But here's the part of the article that is dumb with a possible political-opinion spin.

Worse, no one is 100% sure that Obama was smart enough to know that DVDs made in America don't play on European DVD players.

"Smart" enough? Most people don't know about Region 1 versus Region 2. Obama's team of whatevers should research and put a lot of thought into the gifts. Maybe they dropped the ball on a number of levels but not because they aren't "smart" enough.

Oh cmon now. We are all children of the internet age! The regional stuff has been mentioned a million times over the past decade in articles and commercials about piracy laws. Hell any kid knows it because they can't buy a game from abroad and play it in their home system unless it's modded.

It's the same as the people that come to Europe and plug their 110 appliance into a 240v outlet. ZAP! It is labeled EVERYWHERE not to do it, everyone that is even slightly worldly knows it.

This is just showing how little BO gives thought to one of our strongest allies.

I would be absolutely embarrassed if I was BO. He knows no shame. He is totally delusional and probably doesn't even understand why it has pissed people off.

If this is just another case of BO's picked subordinates failing...well, what is this, the 20th example of total incompetence in his staff?

starang21 · #2 03-09-2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

This is just showing how little BO gives thought to one of our strongest allies.

I would be absolutely embarrassed if I was BO. He knows no shame. He is totally delusional and probably doesn't even understand why it has pissed people off.

If this is just another case of BO's picked subordinates failing...well, what is this, the 20th example of total incompetence in his staff?

what a ridiculous post. it was a mistake. there's a learning curve. he's been in office for 2 months. how petty and uninformed.

Munchkin03 · #3 03-09-2009, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starang21

what a ridiculous post. it was a mistake. there's a learning curve. he's been in office for 2 months. how petty and uninformed.

Yeah, I doubt it's going to happen again.

Coramoor · #4 03-09-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starang21

what a ridiculous post. it was a mistake. there's a learning curve. he's been in office for 2 months. how petty and uninformed.

What is petty and uninformed is giving the British PM a box set of Bond DVDs from the wrong region.

starang21 · #5 03-09-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

What is petty and uninformed is giving the British PM a box set of Bond DVDs from the wrong region.

so someone made a mistake. and? you're blowing this out of proportion. the levity of THIS situation as compared to the gaffes that bush has done pale in comparison.

DrPhil · #6 03-09-2009, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starang21

so someone made a mistake. and? you're blowing this out of proportion. the levity of THIS situation as compared to the gaffes that bush has done pale in comparison.

He may work for TMZ.

No offense to Harvey Levin who I have always adored.

And let's not get into a Bush-Obama comparison. Obama has plenty of time to mess up as much if not more than Bush. I would hate for you folks to have to eat your words.

MysticCat · #7 03-09-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

What is petty and uninformed is giving the British PM a box set of Bond DVDs from the wrong region.

Just one question: Does anyone actually know that the DVDs were for the wrong region? I haven't seen that in any credible news report. All I've seen is comments in pieces like the one starang quoted where they say things like "It's worth noting that American DVDs won't play in European DVD players." That may be worth noting, but that doesn't mean that the DVDs were, in fact, not compatible with European players, only that the writer is assuming that they were not.

I agree that it was a major gaffe by the Protocol Office (even though Brown is not a head of state). But there sure seems to be a whiff of truthiness about some of the more outraged reports.

ETA: Maybe the Protocol Office was just following precedent. According to The Daily Mail, Bush gave Brown a fur-trimmed bomber jacket.

wrigley · #8 03-09-2009, 03:33 PM

I'd rather have President Obama give cheap gifts than spend a large amount of money for them in a time when there's the debt outstanding to think about.

Coramoor · #9 03-09-2009, 04:26 PM

I would rather blow things out of proportion and think the man is wrong no matter what he does. haha

AKA_Monet · #10 03-09-2009, 07:01 PM

Hayle, they could have just given PM Brown and his family some Obama campaign T-shirts/posters/memorabilia, which actually fetches quite a bit of money these days... LOL... At least Obama has a stash of that crap laying around there somewhere. Or at least the stuh is bootlegged somewhere... Good ole American Capitalism at its best! J/K... or not...

deepimpact2 · #11 03-09-2009, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrigley

I'd rather have President Obama give cheap gifts than spend a large amount of money for them in a time when there's the debt outstanding to think about.

Exactly. If he had given an extravagant gift, then people would have been shouting, screaming, hissing, and foaming at the mouth about THAT.

deepimpact2 · #12 03-09-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticCat

ETA: Maybe the Protocol Office was just following precedent. According to The Daily Mail, Bush gave Brown a fur-trimmed bomber jacket.

Interesting. Wonder why we never really heard much about that?

DrPhil · #13 03-09-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

Oh cmon now. We are all children of the internet age! The regional stuff has been mentioned a million times over the past decade in articles and commercials about piracy laws. Hell any kid knows it because they can't buy a game from abroad and play it in their home system unless it's modded.

It's the same as the people that come to Europe and plug their 110 appliance into a 240v outlet. ZAP! It is labeled EVERYWHERE not to do it, everyone that is even slightly worldly knows it.

This is just showing how little BO gives thought to one of our strongest allies.

I would be absolutely embarrassed if I was BO. He knows no shame. He is totally delusional and probably doesn't even understand why it has pissed people off.

If this is just another case of BO's picked subordinates failing...well, what is this, the 20th example of total incompetence in his staff?

Eh...apparently what some deem "common knowledge" simply is not. They should've researched it more, I already said that.

I lack the passion for this that you apparently have.

deepimpact2 · #14 03-09-2009, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

He is totally delusional and probably doesn't even understand why it has pissed people off.

You're right. He probably doesn't understand why it has pissed people off because he mistakenly thinks people have their minds on more important things.

With respect to the part of that article about First Lady Michelle giving the boys the helicopters, I fail to see the issue with that. Little boys tend to like those types of things. They wouldn't necessarily want clothes as a gift.

PeppyGPhiB · #15 03-10-2009, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

You're right. He probably doesn't understand why it has pissed people off because he mistakenly thinks people have their minds on more important things.

With respect to the part of that article about First Lady Michelle giving the boys the helicopters, I fail to see the issue with that. Little boys tend to like those types of things. They wouldn't necessarily want clothes as a gift.

Right, I was thinking the same thing. What else would be an appropriate gift for little boys? I actually think it's a little weird that they gave Sasha and Malia clothes. One of the articles I read on this actually had a comment from a reader adding, "A gift of clothes was probably seen as tacky by the Americans, so we're not ones to talk," or something to that effect.

I think the DVD gift would've been thoughtful if Brown was a movie buff. But by all accounts I've read so far, he's not. I do think people have radically underestimated how much that collection probably cost. I don't know why people think it would've been purchased for $19.95 at Wal-Mart. Last time I looked, Wal-Mart didn't carry Citizen Kane.

ETA: I'm more concerned that Obama returned the gift of the Churchill bust given to Bush by Tony Blair following 9/11. How tacky to give back any gift, particularly one from a foreign leader given as a symbol of solidarity!